What's Left Of Me?
by colexus
Summary: The watchers council is left vulnerable and Willow has lost her magic. All alone in England, she and Giles must face a new villain and regain the use of Willows magic. Based between season 6 & 7. Written by Zyth and colexus.
1. A night time visit from friends

Chapter 1 - A visit from friends (colexus)  


Willow rolled over and buried her head in the pillow, trying to get back to sleep. She hadn't been sleeping well, mainly because of the dreams she had been having. Dreams about her friends and loved ones, both living and deceased. Especially the deceased. She had seen her love die. Killed by that idiot Warren. Out of hatred, anger and grief she had gone after him and used her powers to skin him alive. She knew she shouldn't have been thinking like this, but in her eyes he got off lightly. She would've caused him so much more pain if she had sat down and thought about the different things she could do to him.

"No" she whispered to herself. She had to get past it all. Accept what had happened and move on. It was easier said than done. For the first week of her time in the Dales, she had sleep a grand total of 4 hours and 17 minutes. Now, towards the end of her second week, it was getting better. Not by much, but still better.

She reached out for the curtain and pulled it back, hoping to see a ray of light but instead found herself staring out at a pitch black sky. "Luminarium" she said, holding her hand out. Nothing happened. "Luminarium" she repeated, a little louder. Still nothing happened. After thinking for a few seconds, she put her lack of 'magic activity' down to tiredness and grogginess and laid her head back on her pillow. She closed her eyes and fell asleep again, drifting back into memories of her closest friends and the experiences they had shared.

In the morning she awoke to find the house empty and a note on the fridge in the kitchen. It read:

"_Willow, have gone to a meeting._

_Will be back for lunch._

_See you then._

_Giles x"_

She read the note again and put it down on the work top. This was the third meeting this week and so far he hadn't gone into any more detail about what was going on, other than "You know, the normal watcher-type-stuff". She made herself a bowl of cereal and sat down in front of the TV. She switched it on and put it on the news channel. Nothing interesting. And defiantly no magic activity. At that thought, she remembered what had happened earlier. She got up and walked back into the kitchen. Putting her bowl down, she tried to think of something magical to do. She took a candle out of a drawer and placed it on the work top. She concentrated on the tip of the wick.

"Accendo". Nothing. "Accendo". Nothing. She knew something was wrong. She was wide awake and ready for he day, but her magic hadn't been switched to on. She was worried. After her 'world-destroying' powers, not having any was a big worry. _No!_ she told herself. _I haven't lost them. They just aren't working properly right now._ _But why not?_

She went back to front room and slumped down in front of the TV again. She would just have to wait for Giles to get back and see what he thought of the situation.


	2. When it all went dark

Chapter 2 - When it all went dark. (Zyth)

Giles had been on the road for hours. The watchers council hadn't contacted him in years, but as curious as he was, he couldn't bare being away from Willow for so long. The old cottage they were staying in was in the middle of nowhere, there was very little chance she was a danger to anyone. Yet he still worried at the danger that she was to herself. If anything happened to her while he was gone, he'd never be able to live with himself afterwards. He had explained his situation to Travis on the phone, but the elder man pleaded that Giles attended the meeting for it was very important. Giles couldn't believe it. Travis was a failed watcher who had blackmailed and bribed his way to being head of the council, therefore seeing himself superior to everyone else. Knowing this, and that the elder was begging to see him, gave Giles a great sense of authority and satisfaction. The council had treated him like garbage, looked down on him and thought little of his decisions regarding Buffy. They had tested both him and her countless times, and never had they proved satisfactory for the council. But that would soon change, for they depended on him now.

The address had bewildered him somewhat. Instead of the large, modern office building in central London where the council had previously been based, he had been directed to a remote little town named Barnsley. Looking around, the place had only a post office, a small convenience store, a couple of crumbling wrecks that resembled houses, and an extremely large cathedral. Had he taken a wrong turn? Surely this was not the place where the almighty watchers council were staying? A smile tugged at Giles' lips for in his eyes, they deserved none better. For once in his life, Giles could look down on them. Despite taking some pleasure in their living conditions, he knew that something serious must have happened to make them behave this way, and that was good news to no one.

Driving along the dirt lane, he pulled up outside a cottage with a number 6 painted onto the half rotten front door. He stepped outside of his small car, feeling his cramped legs protest at such a quick movement. The cottage was far smaller than the one he and Willow were living in, the lawn was so overgrown that it came above his knees, and the boarded up windows and bare roof gave signs that the house had not been inhabited for many years. He slowly walked up to the tiny cottage and lightly tapped on the half remaining wood door, careful not to knock it off its rotten hinges. There was no answer. Giles knocked again, this time with a bit more force. As feared, the door gave a loud creak and fell of its hinges, landing with a large crash.

Cursing under his breathe Giles stepped into the old cottage, calling out to his colleagues. When no reply came, he began to explore further, fearing that the house might collapse upon him at any moment. The front door had led him to a small hallway that, like the whole cottage, was made of stone and wood. Giles walked left to find an opening in a wall where, he assumed, a doorway would have stood. Walking into the dark room, he looked upon the books that had fallen on the wooden floor, the ancient documents scattered around, and the trail of blood smeared everywhere. The remaining watchers had stayed here, he was sure, if they were alive, he was not so certain. He looked at the rest of the room, saw its crumbling state, the darkness and the blood. What had happened to this village? Where were the watchers? This was not a good place to be.

Turning to leave, he glimpsed something out of the corner of his eye. A body, sitting, bound and gagged to a chair. Eyes wide in terror shaking his head vigorously. Beside him sat 5 more men who were also restrained, one of whom he recognised as Travis, and dead on the floor lay a sixth. Immediately running over to them, Giles took the gag from Travis' mouth, and lifted the beaten mans head. Travis was near unconscious, he had deep lines under his blue eyes, bruises and cuts featured on his face, and he looked incredibly skinny. Time had not been kind on his old colleague. Travis looked up and blinked rapidly, trying to focus on the watcher in front of him.

"Rupert?"   
"Stay still, don't talk, I'll get you out." Giles began, reaching round to the back of the chair to untie the mans arms.  
"Shouldn't have come. Fool." He spat blood from his mouth, Giles shook his head at the incoherent man and, after successfully untying his arms, began work on his legs. Giles heard the other men, all younger than he, moan and scream. Giles looked up to see a black figure looming over him. A sense of fear filled Giles, leaving his shivering and feeling as terrified as the half dead men in front of him. Travis covered his head with his now free arms and cried out. The rest of the men let out a muffled cry, for the gags absorbed the sound of their screams.

The explosion was strong. The crumbling house was not the only thing lost that day.


	3. Making the headlines

Chapter 3 - Making the headlines (colexus)

_Hmmm. My drink's finished_ Willow thought. She tore herself away from the joys of British daytime TV and went back into the kitchen to pour herself some more juice. She read the note left by Giles one more time and headed back into the front room, growing slightly worried that it was now reaching mid-afternoon. As soon as she stepped into the room, she noticed that the monotonous voices of 'Bargain Hunt' presenters had been replaced by a young male news reader, accompanied by pictures of a house on fire.

"Reports are in that a house in the small village of Barnsley has mysteriously shot up in flames," the reader started. "It is doubtful that the house was occupied, but 6 people have been found dead and 2 people seriously injured nearby. Here with me now is Fire Chief Walter Morfitt to talk to me about how something like this may have happened."

Willow slumped back in to the sofa, trying to push thoughts about the possibility of Giles being in that house out of her head. She switched off the TV and went over to the radio. She turned on the radio and went towards the bookshelf. Giles had brought a lot of books with them to help Willow in her rehabilitation. She picked out a book on computer programming and sat at the table. Trying to get into the book, her thoughts drifted back to Sunnydale and her friends. She thought about Tara and that smile. She felt bad for thinking about her but then realised she didn't feel any hatred, just sadness. She was taken back by this, but realised it was a good thing. She couldn't stay caught up in the hatred. It had already almost destroyed her, and the world, and she was glad she didn't still feel that hatred.

She yawned, uprising herself as it was only just gone 3 o'clock. She picked her book up and went back to her bed, where she laid down and closed her eyes. She tried to think of the happy times her and her friends had shared, and with this fell asleep, smiling.

_Willow walked through a forest, sitting down in a clearing. She looked down at her feet and noticed the wild animals around her. From caterpillars and butterflies to squirrels and birds._  
"_Beautiful, isn't it?" said a familiar voice from behind her. Willow turned her head and saw her beloved Tara walking towards her. Smiling. "I'm glad you've moved past the hatred sweetie. It'll only drive you crazy being angry. Remember me smiling. Remember me being happy. It's what I want." Willow tried to speak but before a single sound could leave her mouth, Tara had placed a finger upon Willow's lips. "Shhh. Everything's ok now. You told me you didn't want anyone to hurt me and now no-one can. And I still love you, but sweetie, the phones ringing._

Willow opened her eyes. The phone was indeed ringing. She rolled out of bed and picked the phone up.  
It was Giles. And he had some news.


End file.
